NEWS

The Improbable Journey of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes - The New Yorker, August 4, 2020

2020 Writers Hall of Fame Postponed until 2021 

(Clear above to watch the announcement of the postponement)

After discussion among its leadership and a commitment to protecting the health and safety of everyone involved during the coronavirus pandemic, the Empire State Center for the Book has decided to postpone until spring of 2021 its annual New York City event to honor a new group of inductees into the NYS Writers Hall of Fame.

The decision was made in consultation with the group’s co-sponsor and collaborator, the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany.

This is the first time in 11 years that the organization has not hosted a NYS Writers Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The 2020 event was originally scheduled for June at the Princeton Club in Manhattan and then pushed back to September, before ultimately being postponed until next year.

“We wanted to err on the side of caution,” said Rocco Staino, Director for the Empire State Center for the Book, which oversees the Hall of Fame selection committee process.

“This was absolutely the right decision,” said Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl, a member of the selection committee who also presented induction remarks for past Hall of Fame inductees William Kennedy, Russell Shorto, and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

The Princeton Club event attracts a sold-out crowd of bestselling authors, publishing executives, and book lovers to a formal dinner and induction ceremony with speeches by the honorees. Publishers also donated books for dinner guests to get signed by the authors. The Hall of Fame roster each year includes living and deceased honorees. Past ceremonies have been attended by descendants and relatives of honorees William Jennings Bryan, Ira Gershwin, James Baldwin, Ntozake Shange, and many other literary icons.

This year’s inductees -- to be honored in 2021 -- include Edwidge Danticat, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Lore Segal, and Garry Trudeau. Deceased writers Bill Finger, Anna Katherine Green, and Oscar Hammerstein II also will be inducted next year. (More information on the inductees below.)

In this Zoom interview, Grondahl discusses the postponement of the event, this year’s honorees, and the mission of the organization with Director Rocco Staino and his deputy, Ellen Rubin, who was not able to be on video but is an audio-only guest.

The New York State Writers Hall of Fame was established in 2010 by the Empire State Center for the Book, which is the New York State affiliate of the U.S. Library of Congress's Center for the Book. The Empire State Center for the Book, housed at the New York Library Association, began partnering with the NYS Writers Institute this year in presenting the awards.

Edwidge Danticat, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Lore Segal & Garry Trudeauamong those to be inducted into NYS Writers Hall of Fame in 2020.

Noted writers Edwidge Danticat, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Lore Segal, and Garry Trudeau are among the seven members of the 2020 Class of Inductees for the NYS Writers Hall of Fame. The four will attend the induction on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at the Princeton Club of New York. Rocco Staino, who serves as the Director of theEmpire State Center for the Book, made the announcement on February 4 during a Facebook Live event on the center’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/EmpireStateBook/).The Center for the Book is the organization that oversees the Hall of Fame. In addition, three deceased writers: Bill Finger, Anna Katharine Green, and Oscar Hammerstein II will be inducted.  

“This year is the elevent anniversary of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame” said Rocco Staino, Director for the Center of the Book. “Each year the interest in the Hall of Fame grows with a number of nominations coming from the general public.” 

The full list of the 2020 inductees is as follows:

Edwidge Danticat – New York raised and educated Haitian-American novelist.

Bill (Milton) Finger– Bronx raised co-creator of Batman.

Anna Katharine Green – Buffalo resident was the mother of the detective novel.

Oscar Hammerstein II – Lyricist and librettist of the American theatre..

Andrea Davis Pinkney –Author of numerous books for children and young adults.

Lore Segal –Novelist, short story writer and author of children’s books.

Garry Trudeau – Raised in Saranac is the  creator of Doonesbury.

This year the NYS Writers Hall of Fame is presented in conjunction with the New York State Writers Institute, a literary organization which is based at the State University of Albany. The institute enhances and celebrate literature, writing, and performance.

This year’s NYS Writers Hall of Fame inductees were chosen by a selection committee: 

Barbara Genco, retired librarian from Brooklyn Public Library and Editor of Collection Management at Media Source; Paul Grondahl, Director of the New York State Writers Institute; Brian Kenney, Director of the White Plains Public Library; Stefanie Peters, Editor, Library of America; Lisa Lucas, Executive Director, National Book Foundation; Kathleen Masterson, Director of the Literature and Theatre Programs, New York State Council on the Arts; Ira B. Matetsky Esq., Partner, Ganfer, Shore, Leeds & Zauderer; Christine McDonald, retired director, Crandall Library in Glens Falls; Andrew Medlar, Director, Brooklyn & New York Public Libraries BookOps; Bertha Rogers, Creator, New York State Literary website and map; Will Schwalbe, Author and Journalist; Cynthia Shor, Executive Director of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association; and Rocco Staino, Director of the Empire State Center for the Book.

The Empire State Center for the Book is the New York State affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book and is housed at the New York Library Association.

For additional information on the Empire State Center for the Book and the New York State Writers Hall of Fame, please contact Rocco Staino at rocco.staino@gmail.comor 914-475-3857.

Literary Landmark Dedicated in Sag Harbor for Spalding Gray

New York Literary Landmark Plaque Dedication Held at Quarry Farm

May 08 2017

Quarry Farm, summer home of literary icon Mark Twain, was recently designated a New York State Literary Landmark and an official plaque dedication was held Wednesday, May 3 at the Farm.  Representatives from the Center for Mark Twain Studies, the Empire State Center for the Book, and Elmira College were on-hand for the event.

"It was my privilege to be part of the plaque dedication at Quarry Farm, a magical place if ever there was one," said Bertha Rogers, representative from the Empire State Center for the Book. "Mark Twain understood the importance of place like no other American writer; and this plaque will testify to his life as a writer at Quarry Farm."

The designation by United for Libraries and the Empire State Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book, places Quarry Farm on a list of American literary treasures, which features such locations as the homes of Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner.

“We chose this week for this event because it’s National Children’s Book Week and undoubtedly, Mark Twain created two of the most recognized and pervasive child characters in American literature with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,” said Dr. Joseph Lemak, director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies. “In fact, among major American writers of the nineteenth century, no name is more closely associated with the concepts of youth than that of Mark Twain.”

In 1983, Jervis Langdon, Jr., the great-great grandnephew of Samuel and Olivia Langdon Clemens, donated Quarry Farm to Elmira College with the understanding that the property be maintained and preserved, and that it would not be open to the public, but would serve as a residence and center for the study of Mark Twain’s life and works by faculty and visiting scholars.

“Quarry Farm is an internationally recognized academic retreat for the most well-known and well-respected scholars who work in the field of Mark Twain Studies,” said Lemak.  

“It’s exciting to imagine those first readings of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer and other iconic works of Mark Twain, which took place right here on the porch at Quarry Farm as Twain sometimes read what he’d written that day to his wife, daughters, and other listeners,” said Dr. Charles Lindsay, provost and president-designate of Elmira College. “We at Elmira College are honored to serve as stewards of this historic site and delighted to have this jewel recognized as a New York Literary Landmark. 

The evening concluded with a “Trouble Begins” Spring Lecture event titled, “Roughing It: Twain’s Take on Brigham Young, Polygamy, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre,” presented by independent Twain scholar, Barbara Jones Brown. 

• Paula Fox, Member of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame, Dies at 93
•                                    Steepletop Named Literary Landmark 
•                                    Milay Home Named Literary Landmark

•                                    Literacy for Incarcerated Teens to be Recognized

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The inaugural Empire State Center for the Book Literacy Award is being presented to Literacy for Incarcerated Teens (LIT).  The mission of Literacy for Incarcerated Teens, founded in 2009, is to improve the ability and desire of incarcerated youth to read, to offer encouragement, and motivation to seek a better future. LIT provides books, magazine subscriptions, reference resources and other library materials to centers. It offers on-site programs that introduce these youths to visiting authors, artists, filmmakers, poets and others.

It is the only non-profit organization of its kind working to end illiteracy among New York’s incarcerated young people by inspiring them to read. LIT strives to create excellent school libraries in New York City’s juvenile detention centers and non-secure facilities for young people adjudicated as delinquents, the State’s residential facilities operated by the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), and also in schools that serve young people living in group homes. They give young people books and support literacy programming for school libraries.

LIT provides crucial resources for the enrichment and development of the thousands of young people who are incarcerated in New York’s juvenile facilities. These facilities have been widely recognized as being severely under-resourced and unprepared to assist young people in their growth and development. In an era of budget austerity, LIT is able to provide much-needed supplementary services and resources.  

The program will be recognized at the New York State Writers Hall of Fame Gala on Tuesday, June 7, in New York City.  The award is made possible through funds provide by David Rubenstein and the Library of Congress.

For more information contact Ellen Rubin at ellenbr47@gmail.com

www.empirestatebook.org

www.literacyforincarceratedteens.org

• Lost in New York: A Subway Adventure to Represent New York at National Book Festival

   

  The Empire State Center for the Book has selected Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure (TOON, 2015) by Nadja Spiegelman and Illustrated by Sergio Garcia Sanchez to represent New York State at the 2016 National Book Festival in Washington DC.  The book is the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places Through Reading” map. Each state selects one book about the state or by an author from the state that is a good read for children or young adults. The map is distributed at the Festival and listed in “Great Reads About Great Places” on the websites of both the National and Empire State Centers for the Book.

  This is story, told in comics, has Pablo accidentally getting on the wrong train, but with the help from a new friend and from the city itself, it leads to a happy ending.  The book has received six starred reviews and was named a notable book by the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC).

  The selection will be formally recognized at the New York State Writers Hall of Fame Induction on June 7, where among others Roger Angell, Roz Chast, Samuel R. Delany and Stephen Sondheim will be inducted during a gala dinner held at the 3 West Club in New York City.

  The National Book Festival will be held in Washington DC, on Saturday, September 24, 2016. It will feature award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Festivalgoers can meet their favorite authors, get books signed, have photos taken with mascots and storybook characters, and participate in a variety of learning activities. States will be promoting reading, library programs, and literary events.

  The Empire State Center for the Book is committed to the book in all formats. Interests of the Center include the promotion of the culture of reading, literature, literacy, book arts, and book history throughout New York State. 

• PEN America, Renowned Writers and Artists Stand with Apple in Privacy Battle
  Free Expression Advocates Urge End to Efforts to Compel Tech Giant to Crack Shooter¹s iPhone, 
  Citing Pervasive Privacy and Self-Censorship Implications

  NEW YORK‹Apple should not be put in a position where protecting the privacy of its customers requires it to defy the law, PEN America said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch this morning.

  The letter‹signed by 48 of the world¹s leading writers, artists, editors, and publishers including Russell Banks, Robert Caro, Francine Prose, Stephen Sondheim and Colm Toibin, all members of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame ‹urges the Justice Department to end its efforts to compel Apple to create a software that can crack the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan, a measure that Apple has said would compromise the security of all of its phones. Last week, a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered Apple to help the FBI disable certain security features on the phone to give officials access to its contents as part of an ongoing investigation.

   ³Countering terror is as difficult and important a responsibility as any that our government shoulders,² the letter reads. ³But the government has an equally weighty duty to preserve and protect our constitution and the freedoms that make this country great. The right to privacy is not an abstract or fungible good.²

  In 2013 and 2015, respectively, PEN America released two-groundbreaking reports, Chilling Effects and Global Chilling, showing the impact of dragnet surveillance and other Patriot Act-driven privacy intrusions on writers and free expression in the U.S. and internationally. The studies demonstrate that knowledge that the government has the ability to track down and review virtually any personal communication or content has prompted a significant proportion of writers to engage in self-censorship, avoiding speaking or writing about particular topics for fear that the government is watching and reading.

  ³It is impossible to overlook the international implications of today¹s debate, knowing that writers and private citizens around the world are faced with demands from authoritarian governments that invoke a counter-terror rationale‹using whatever definition of Œterror¹ they may choose‹to justify intrusive surveillance and wider forms of political repression,² said Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of PEN America. ³As an organization of writers and artists whose peers often live in fear of the prying eyes of their governments, we stand with Apple in highlighting the dangers of allowing national security concerns to override privacy interests and impinge upon freedom of expression.²

  Read the full text of the letter at http://www.pen.org/apple-privacy

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• Stephen Sondheim Among Eight to be Inducted into Writers Hall of Fame

   

  Noted writers Roger Angell, Roz Chast, Samuel R, Delany, and Stephen Sondheim are among the eight members of the 2016 Class of Inductees into the NYS Writers Hall of Fame.  The four will be in attendance at the induction ceremony and dinner on Tuesday evening, June 7, 2016, at the 3 West Club in New York City. Rocco Staino, who serves as the Director of the Empire State Center for the Book, made the announcement on February 1, 2016, at The Lambs, America’s oldest theatrical club. The Center for the Book is the organization that oversees the Hall of Fame.  In addition, four deceased writers Maya Angelou, Jean Craighead George, Don Marquis, and Grace Paley will also be inducted. 

  “This year, our committee decided that it was time for a lyricist to be inducted into the Hall of Fame ranks,” said Mr. Staino.  “Who better to lead the way than Stephen Sondheim!”  This year will also mark the first time that an inductee will be joining a member of his or her family in the Hall of Fame as E.B. White the stepfather of sports writer and essayist Roger Angell was a member of the Hall of Fame’s 2010 inaugural class.

  The full list of the 2016 inductees is as follows:

Roger Angell (b. 1920) – Essayist, sports writer, and contributor to the New Yorker.

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) - Poet, author, and memoirist whose 1969 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings brought her international recognition.

Roz Chast (b. 1954) – Graphic novelist, cartoonist, and National Book Award finalist.

Samuel R. Delany (b. 1942) – Science fiction writer, essayist, and literary critic and a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Jean Craighead George (1919–2012) - Naturalist and author of more than 100 books for children and young adults.

Don Marquis (1878–1937) – Humorist, journalist and creator of the characters of Archy and Mehitabel.

Grace Paley (1922-2007) – Short story writer and poet.

Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930) – Composer and lyricist whose recognitions include the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

This year’s inductees into the NYS Writers Hall of Fame were chosen by a selection committee composed of Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation; Barbara Genco, retired librarian from Brooklyn Public Library and Editor of Collection Management at Media Source; Brian Kenney, Director of the White Plains Public Library; Stefanie Peters of the Library of America; Kathleen Masterson, Director of the Literature Program at the New York State Council on the Arts; Ira B. Matetsky Esq., partner at the law firm of  Ganfer & Shore, LLP; Christine McDonald, retired director of the Crandall Library in Glens Falls; Bertha Rogers, Executive Director of Bright Hill Press and creator of the New York State Literary Website and Map; Charlene Rue, Brooklyn & New York Public Libraries Book Ops; and Rocco Staino, Director of the Empire State Center for the Book.

The Empire State Center for the Book is part of the Library of Congress Center for the Book and is currently hosted by the New York Library Association.

For additional information on the Empire State Center for the Book, the NYS Writers Hall of Fame, or the 2016 induction ceremony and dinner, please contact Rocco Staino at rocco.staino@gmail.com or 1-800-252-NYLA.

• New York Selects Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley for Route 1 Reads

   

   

  The State Centers for the Book linked by US Route 1, which extends from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida, are joining together to promote books that illuminate important aspects of their states/commonwealths literary heritage for readers travelling the major and meandering highway. The formal announcement of the project will be made on September 5 at the National Book Festival in Washington DC.  At that time, the Route1Reads.org website will be made live.

   

  New York’s Empire State Center for the Book’s Route1Reads selection is John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, In Search of America.   It is a travelogue written by Steinbeck. It depicts a 1960 road trip around the United States made by Steinbeck, in the company of his standard poodle, Charley. His travels start on Long Island’s Sag Harbor when he leaves on the Shelter Island ferry and roughly follow the outer border of the United States. Some of his trip was along Route 1.

   

  Strangely, Route 1 just does not seem to have captured the American imagination as has Route 66. You can’t get your kicks. You don’t imagine yourself a rebel without a cause. There is no TV series named after it. Poor Route 1 is a little stodgy and very ordinary, probably because it is so ubiquitous in the eastern states. It’s just there and we use it all the time because it’s part of the fabric of our lives. There’s not a lot of mystique associated with it and hardly anyone makes a special trip to say they’ve seen Route 1. But, just because we see it all the time doesn’t mean that Route 1 doesn’t have some memorable highlights along its 2,369 miles.  That’s the focus of the Route1Reads project. The Centers for the Book along Route 1 are stringing together some of the stories, sites, tastes and smells of our very own parts and parcels of Route 1. 

   

  New York is not only celebrating Route 1 Reads with Steinbeck’s book but has a cocktail to go along with the book.  Mixologist Gregory Seider created the Travels with Charlie cocktail for Sag Harbor’s Baron’s Cove Resort and we are happy to share the recipe at our website bit.ly/1NGq4um  Route 1crosses the Hudson River into New York, and US 9 exits just beyond onto Broadway in Manhattan, but US 1 stays with I-95 onto the Cross Bronx Expressway, exiting in the Bronx onto Webster Avenue. Two turns take US 1 via Fordham Road to Boston Road, which it follows northeast out of the city to the state line, never straying far from I-95.

   

  For more information contact: Rocco Staino, rocco.staino@gmail.com or call 914-475-3857  

   

• Wilder Homestead to be Dedicated A Literary Landmark 

  United for Libraries, in partnership with the New York Library Association, Empire State Center for the Book, and HarperCollins Publishers, will designate the Wilder Homestead in Burke, N.Y., a Literary Landmark™ during a celebration on Saturday, July 11.

  The Homestead, the setting for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Farmer Boy” (1933), is where Laura’s husband Almanzo grew up from 1857 until his family moved to a farm in Minnesota in 1875.

  A bronze plaque will be unveiled during the celebration in conjunction with the Homestead’s Children’s Art Event (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)  There will be art activities for children and 19th century games, along with an awards ceremony for the children’s art show.  The public is invited to hear William Anderson, award-winning author and historian, speak about the Ingalls/Wilder family homes.  Museum admission applies to this event.

  Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) first wrote about her childhood growing up on the American frontier in “Little House in the Big Woods” (1932).  “Farmer Boy” was the second title in her “Little House” series.  The farmhouse is the only “Little House” venue still on its original property.  The Homestead includes the original Wilder home with period furnishings and an 1860s-era one-room schoolhouse that was added in 2013.

  The Friends of Libraries Section of the New York Library Association (NYLA) initiated the application for the Wilder Homestead, and all eight divisions of NYLA contributed the cost of the plaque in honor of NYLA’s 125th anniversary in 2015.

  For more information about the dedication, visit www.almanzowilderfarm.com.

  The Literary Landmark program is administered by United for Libraries. More than 150 Literary Landmarks across the United States have been dedicated since the program began in 1986. Any library or group may apply for a Literary Landmark through United for Libraries. More information is available on the United for Libraries website. 

  United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association that supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries. United for Libraries brings together library trustees, advocates, friends and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information or to join United for Libraries, visit the United for Libraries website or contact Jillian Kalonick at (312) 280-2161 or jkalonick@ala.org.

• Center for the Book to Recognize Walter Dean Myers with Literary Landmark

​

Noted children’s and young adult author, Walter Dean Myers will be honored during Children’s Book Week with the dedication of a Literary Landmark.  A plaque will be unveiled on Monday, May 4 at the George Bruce Branch of the New York Public Library in honor of Myers who used the branch library in his childhood.  The event is a kick-off event for Children’s Book Week.  Myers who died on July 1, 2014  at the age of 76 was the author of over 100 books and served as the Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. 

The Literary Landmark program is administered by United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.  This will be the fifteenth Literary Landmark in New York State.  The Empire State Center for the Book, HarperCollins Publishers, Holiday House, Random House Children’s Books and Scholastic joined together to sponsor the George Bruce site.  This is one of five literary landmarks being dedicated  around the country during Children’s Book Week.  The others are:

Carl Sandburg State Historic Site, Galesburg, Ill., April 25, 2015

The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Lincoln biographer was born in a three-room cottage adjacent to the site, and grew up in Galesburg. His book Rootabega Stories was written for his three daughters and The American Songbag is a collection of American folk tunes that are still taught to children today.

Westerly (R.I.) Public Library, May 2, 2015, in honor of Margaret Wise Brown
The Margaret Wise Brown papers are housed at this library, and include correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, poems, songs, stories and essays, books, and many ideas for records, television and radio programs. Brown was the author of many beloved children’s books, including Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.

Norman (Okla.) Public Library, May 3, 2015, in honor of Harold Keith

Harold Keith, author and sports journalist, was born in Oklahoma’s Cherokee Outlet. He pioneered the field of sports journalism as the first sports information director for the University of Oklahoma. His major works include sports histories and historical novels for young people. His book Rifles for Watie, emerging from interviews conducted with Civil War veterans from Indian Territory, won the 1958 Newbery Award.

Hamilton (Ohio) Lane Library, May 9, 2015, in honor of Robert McCloskey

Two-time Caldecott Award winner Robert McCloskey  walked through the doors of the Hamilton Lane Library many times as a child.  McCloskey was born in Hamilton and his first book, Lentil, featured several Hamilton scenes, including the library. Published by Viking in 1940, it told the story of a boy much like himself who played the harmonica.
The ceremony at the George Bruce Library  518 W 125th St, New York, NY 10027 is open to the public at will take place at 1 pm on Monday May 4.

For additional information contact Rocco Staino at rocco.staino@gmail.com or  800-252-NYLA
 

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• Rain Reign to Represent New York at National Book Festival

   

  The Empire State Center for the Book has selected Ann M. Martin’s Rain Reign  (Macmillan, 2014)  to represent New York State at the 2015 National Book Festival in Washington DC.  The book is the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places Through Reading” map. Each state selects one book about the state or by an author from the state that is a good read for children or young adults.  The map is distributed at the Festival and listed in “Great Reads About Great Places” on the websites of both the National and Empire State Centers for the Book.

  The story set in an upstate New York town is about a young girl with Asperger’s syndrome with a penchant for homonyms.  The book was awarded the 2015 Schneider Family Book Awards, which honor an author for the artistic expression of the disability experience.  Ann M. Martin is a resident of New York State and is known to a generation of readers as the author of the “Baby-Sitters' Club” series.

  The selection will be formally recognized at the New York State Writers Hall of Fame Induction on June 2, where among others, Francine Prose, David Remnick and Colm Toibin will be inducted  during a gala dinner held at the Princeton Club of New York.

  The National Book Festival will be held in Washington DC on Saturday, September 5, 2015. It will feature award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Festival goers can meet their favorite authors, get books signed, have photos taken with mascots and storybook characters, and participate in a variety of learning activities. States will be promoting reading and library programs and literary events.

   

  The Empire State Center for the Book is committed to the book in all formats. Interests of the Center include the promotion of the culture of reading, literature, literacy, book arts, and book history throughout New York State. The Center promotes literature, literacy and libraries.

• 2015 Inductees to the NYS Writers Hall of Fame Announced

   

  Noted writers Francine Prose, David Remnick, and Colm Toibin are among the seven members of the 2015 Class of Inductees into the NYS Writers Hall of Fame.  The three will be in attendance at the induction on Tuesday, June 2, 2015, at the Princeton Club of New York. Rocco Staino, who serves as the Director of the Empire State Center for the Book, made the announcement on February 5, 2015, at the New York Library Association headquarters in Guilderland, NY. The Center for the Book is the organization that oversees the Hall of Fame.  In addition, four deceased writers, Isaac Asimov, Allen Ginsberg, Ezra Jack Keats, and Dawn Powell, will be inducted.

  “Each year our committee has the difficult task of selecting a variety of writers who represent the rich literary history of our state,” said Rocco Staino, the center for the book director.  “I hope that the public will take the time to revisit the works of all our inductees and join us at the induction.”

  The full list of the 2015 inductees is as follows:

  Isaac Asimov  (1920 – 1992)  - Master of the science fiction genre, he wrote and edited over 500 books in a wide range of subjects. 

   

  Allen Ginsberg (1926 – 1997) - A poet who was a major figure in the beat generation.

   

  Ezra Jack Keats (1916 – 1983) – Author and illustrator of children’s books who is credited with introducing multiculturalism into children’s literature.

   

  Dawn Powell (1896 – 1965) - Writer of comic novels who was a vital part of the literary Greenwich Village from the 1920’s to the 1960’s.

   

  Francine Prose (1947- ) – Author of more than twenty works of fiction, a National Book Award finalist, and a former president of PEN American Center.

   

  David Remnick (1958-) – A journalist, editor, and Pulitzer Prize winner who is currently the editor-in-chief of The New Yorker.

   

  Colm Toibin (1955-) - Novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet.

   

  This year’s nominees into the NYS Writers Hall of Fame were chosen by a selection committee comprised of Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, Jeffrey Cannell, Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education of the New York State Education Department, Barbara Genco, retired librarian from Brooklyn Public Library and Editor of Collection Management at Media Source, Brian Kenney, Director of the White Plains Public Library, Stefanie Peters of the Library of America, Kathleen Masterson, Director of the Literature Program at the New York State Council on the Arts, Christine McDonald, retired director of the Crandall Library, Glens Falls, Bertha Rogers, Executive Director of Bright Hill Press & creator of the New York State Literary website and map, Charlene Rue, Brooklyn & New York Public Libraries Book Ops, and Rocco Staino, Director of the Empire State Center for the Book.

  Plans are underway to house the NYS Writers Hall of Fame at the New York State Library in Albany. The Empire State Center for the Book is part of the Library of Congress Center for the Book and is currently housed at the New York Library Association.

  For additional information on the Empire State Center for the Book and the Writers Hall of fame, please contact Rocco Staino at the New York Library Association 1-800-252-NYLA or rocco.staino@gmail.com.

   

• Newsday Walt Whitman Birthplace is now a Literary Landmark

• Newsday Walt Whitman Birthplace named a Literary Landmark

• School Library Journal story  on The House on East 88th Street Literary Landmark

• Publishers Weekly story on The House on East 88th Street Literary Landmark

• The children of the Yorkville Community School (421 E 88th St, New York, NY 10128) will gather to celebrate Children’s Book Week (May 12-18th, 2014) by helping declare their school and the street where it stands a Literary Landmark. The street was made famous by children's author/illustrator Bernard Waber in his book The House on East 88th Street.  The 1962 book, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, introduced the character Lyle, the Crocodile to the world of children’s literature. 

  A United for Libraries bronze Literary Landmark plaque will be unveiled during the ceremony.  It will later be mounted on the exterior of the Yorkville School, which is similar to the school that the Primm children attended. A costumed character of Lyle the Crocodile will be in attendance and will be available for photo opportunities.

• The Empire State Center for the Book has selected Melissa Sweet’s Balloons Over Broadway (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) to represent New York State at the 2014 National Book Festival in Washington DC.  The book is the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places Through Reading” map. Each state selects one book about the state or by an author from the state, that is a good read for children or young adults.  The map is distributed at the Festival and listed in “Great Reads About Great Places” on the websites of both the National and Empire State Centers for the Book.
   
• The Empire State Center for the Book is proud to announce the 2014 Class of Inductees into the NYS Writers Hall of Fame.  Noted writers Russell Banks, Mary Higgins Clark, Alice Hoffman, and Maurice Kenny are among the seven members of the 2014 Class, and they will be in attendance at the induction on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the Princeton Club of New York. In addition, three deceased writers, Nora Ephron, Rex Stout, and James Thurber will be inducted. Rocco Staino, who serves as the Director of the Empire State Center for the Book, made the announcement on February 6, 2014, at the New York Library Association headquarters in Guilderland, NY. The Center for the Book is the organization that oversees the Hall of Fame.
   
• The Empire State Center for the Book has selected Maira Kalman’s Next Stop Grand Central (Penguin) to represent New York State at the 2013 National Book Festival in Washington DC. The book is the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s  “Discover Great Places Through Reading Map”. Each state selects one title of fiction or non-fiction, a book about the state or by an author from the state that is a good read for children or young adults. The map is distributed at the Pavilion of the States at the Festival and lists “Great Reads About Great Places”.

• The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine will be dedicated a Literary Landmark on Thursday,  November 29 to recognize the church’s connection with the legendary children’s author, Madeleine L’Engle.  The author of the children’s literary classic A Wrinkle in Time (FSG, 1962) served as the church’s librarian for more than 40 years.  The event, which is open to the public, is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Cathedral, followed by Evensong and a reception. L’Engle is a member of the Writers Hall of Fame.

• Join the Empire State Center For the Book on December 1^st for the 1 pm Matinee Performance of Edna Ferber’s Giant: the musical. Only $30. Limited Number of Tickets Available. Edna Ferber is a 2012 Inductee New York State Writers Hall of Fame. 

• Join us for a reception honoring some of New York’s authors! Literary New York Comes to D.C.Fergus Bordewick-T.C. Boyle–Chris Bram-Bryan Collier-Susan Hertog-Tad Hills-Jenny Han-Ellen Hopkins-Leonard Marcus- Raina Telgemeier-Siobhan Vivian & OthersSaturday, September 22, 2012, 6-8 pm at the Eagle Grill, The Army Navy Club, 901 17th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006. Metro stops:  Red Line ~ Farragut NorthBlue/Orange Line ~ Farragut West. RSVP: nyss1@verizon.net or 703.899.4008. $10.00 payable at the door. Please respect The Army Navy Club dress code. No jeans, shorts or sneakers.This celebration will bring together NY Writers with New Yorkers & other book lovers. Participating authors’ books will be available for sale & autographing. Books provided by One More Page Bookstore.
   
• The New York Library Association, in conjunction with the Empire State Center for the Book, is seeking to compile a “Census of NYS Book Festivals.” The purpose of this activity will be to generate a calendar of events for the Empire State Center for the Book website, as well as to serve as support information for later projects.Anyone with information on a NYS Book Festival is invited to complete this online survey. You need not be the organizer in order to complete the survey, and we are not concerned about receiving duplicate submissions. When in doubt, please tell us about the event; even incomplete information will be appreciated. Click here to complete the census form. Thank you!
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• 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees story in the NY Daily News
• Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck (Scholastic, 2011) chosen to represent New York State at the 2012 National Book Festival in Washington DC.
• 2012 New York Letters About Literature winners announced.
• 2012 Hall of Fame inductees are announced.
• Cather has admirers all over, by Leia Mendoza, Omaha World-Herald staff writer
• Newsday (17 Apr 2011) article on Michael Ferdinand, NYS Level 1 winner, 2011 Letters About Literature.
• Center Chooses Graphic Historical Diary to Represent New York at National Book Festival.
• 2011 Empire State Book Festival and Gala attract hordes of book lovers 
• 2011 NY Letters About Literature Winners announced
• 2011 New York State Writers Hall of Fame Inductees Announced 
• Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me Chosen to Represent New York State at National Book Festival
• New York Library Association is named as new home of New York state’s Center for the Book.